Conformity and Blending In Begins from a Young Age

Experientially, we may have seen that in a group, people do not like those who are better and superior. A scientific study of two-year-olds shows that conformity and aligning oneself with the majority starts from childhood. This report, published on February 14 on the website of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, has also been reviewed and republished on scientific websites such as 'Scientific American' and the 'Psychological Science Association'. The research team formed a group of two-year-olds consisting of humans, chimpanzees, and orangutans. Several two-year-old children, several two-year-old chimpanzees, and several two-year-old orangutans were placed in separate environments. In front of these two-year-olds, a box was placed that had three openings for throwing a ball. If the ball was placed in any of the openings, it would return, but only one of these paths would yield a reward if the ball was thrown into it. For the human two-year-olds, the reward was chocolate, and for the chimpanzees and orangutans, peanuts were dispensed as a reward from the machine. After the participants understood how to obtain the reward for the first time, they were shown how other group members did this without being given a reward. Then the groups were switched. Now, each participant witnessed that other group members were watching them. More than half of the two-year-old children imitated the other group members who did not know how to get the reward and threw the ball in a direction that did not yield chocolate. However, the chimpanzees and orangutans did not care whether anyone was watching them or not. They were only focused on obtaining the reward and threw the ball in a direction that would yield peanuts. The two-year-old children in this group knew the correct answer. However, if no one was watching them, they were more inclined to throw the ball in the correct direction and obtain the reward. Researchers examining this study say the results indicate that humans are either born with a sense of conformity and blending in or develop this inclination very early in childhood. This research suggests that the tendency for conformity has likely evolved gradually in humans, as humans possess greater social complexity than ape families, necessitating the preservation of cultural and informational connections within each society. 'Daniel Han', the head of this research group, states: 'We like those who are similar to us.' Being conformist allows us to feel a sense of sameness with others. This research indicates that conformity is not always the best choice. There are those who prefer to be leaders rather than followers. Daniel Han adds: 'When there is insufficient information about the group or local community, conforming with the group is the first and best choice.'